Dissociation between brown adipose tissue thermogenesis and sympathetic activity in rats with high plasma levels of oestradiol.

It has been shown previously that high plasma levels of oestradiol inhibit brown adipose tissue thermogenesis. Since rats and mice show a close association between thermogenic activity in and sympathetic discharge to brown fat, we measured the noradrenaline turnover in rats with high plasma levels of oestradiol to establish whether the observed inhibition of thermogenic activity is brought about by a reduction in the sympathetic drive to brown adipocytes. Oestradiol-filled Silastic capsules were implanted subcutaneously in female rats previously acclimated either to thermoneutrality or to cold. Control rats received empty implants. After 15 days treatment, noradrenaline turnover was measured by blocking its synthesis with alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine. As expected, noradrenaline turnover was higher in cold-acclimated rats than in rats kept at thermoneutrality. The presence of high plasma oestradiol levels did not alter sympathetic activity in any of the treated groups despite reducing thermogenic activity. This result reveals that oestradiol dissociates the thermogenic activity of brown adipose tissue from its sympathetic activation. Such dissociation has never been previously reported in rats, although it seems to be common in Syrian hamsters. However the causative factor in this species is unknown.